During the interview, Dr. Elders recalled growing up in rural, segregated, poverty-stricken Schaal, Arkansas and how it ultimately impacted her lifelong dedication to public health. Dr. Elders talked about her appointment as U.S. Surgeon General by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and how she was forced to resign over a controversy about her public statements about safer sex, masturbation, and sex education. Elders and Taormino discussed abstinence-only sex education, the current state of HIV/AIDS, and how we can empower young people around their sexuality.

Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology, was the sixteenth Surgeon General of the United States, the first African American and only the second woman to head the U.S. Public Health Service. Long an outspoken advocate of public health, Elders was appointed Surgeon General by President Clinton in 1993. In 1995, she returned to her alma mater, the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, as a faculty researcher and professor of pediatric endocrinology at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. In 1996, she wrote her autobiography, Joycelyn Elders, M.D.: From Sharecropper’s Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America. Now retired from practice, Dr. Elders has teamed up with the University of Minnesota Medical School, which has created The Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education to advance the design, evaluation, and dissemination of essential sexual health curriculum for all individuals as well as training for allied health care providers and education professionals.

“It was an honor and a privilege to speak to Dr. Elders,” says Taormino. “She is such an inspiration to sex educators everywhere. She’s bold, unapologetic, and fearless about her commitment to comprehensive sex education in our country. Plus, she’s very feisty—I can’t believe some of the things she said!”

The second half of the show will feature Jackie Strano, Executive Vice President of Good Vibrations, the presenting sponsor of Sex Out Loud. Strano was at CatalystCon West for Dr. Elders’ keynote. “Dr. Elders is one of my personal sex positive icons for her bravery and for telling a simple and necessary truth during a climate of intense fear around sexuality in this country’s history,” says Strano. “For the last 19 years, Good Vibrations has dedicated the month of May as ‘Masturbation Month’ in homage to Elders’ bravery and commitment to pleasure, sex positivity and sex education.” In their interview, Taormino and Strano talk about the state of sex education in America, why sex-positive retail stores are so important, and how Good Vibrations has paired with various non-profit sex-positive organizations to raise money and awareness.

Jackie Strano is the Executive Vice President of Good Vibrations the legendary feminist sex positive adult retailer founded in 1977. Strano is an award winning and best-selling adult filmmaker of explicit and non-explicit sex-ed movies, a sex educator for over 20 years, author, performer, producer, and has lectured at conferences, universities, and appeared on HBO, various documentaries, and featured in Cosmo, Playboy, Self Magazine, Salon, The Village Voice, and various independent newspapers throughout the country.

“Tristan continues to deliver high quality shows week after week on Sex Out Loud,” says Karen Dana, Executive Producer of the show at VoiceAmerica. “Not only does she have top-notch guests from a variety of fields, but her conversations with them are thoughtful, provocative, and inspirational. That’s what makes Sex Out Loud the highest-rated show on the entire VoiceAmerica Network.”

Sex Out Loud explores the world of sexuality from every angle with host Tristan Taormino®, who interviews leading authors, educators, artists and icons and gives listeners an uncensored, inside look at alternative sexual practices and communities. Guests have included Dan Savage, Susie Bright, Jessica Valenti, Kandi Burruss, and Margaret Cho. Sex Out Loud airs live on Fridays at 5 pm Pacific / 7 pm Central / 8 pm Eastern on The VoiceAmerica Variety Channel; it is the number one rated show across the entire VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. Tristan Taormino is an award winning author, sex educator, speaker, and filmmaker. She is the author of seven books and editor of twenty-five anthologies. She has appeared on Melissa Harris-Perry, Joy Behar: Say Anything, HBO’s Real Sex, Ricki Lake, and The Howard Stern Show. She lectures at top colleges and universities and teaches sex and relationship classes around the world.

About Good Vibrations:Good Vibrations is a diverse, woman-focused retailer providing high-quality, sex-positive products and non-judgmental, accurate sex information through our clean and comfortable stores, catalog, web site, wholesale division, product and movie production lines in order to enhance our customers’ sex lives and promote healthy attitudes about sex. We recognize that sexuality touches on every aspect of our lives and that many people face challenges around positive sexual expression. Our goal is to help everyone we come into contact with to discover ways to experience sexual pleasure, health, and well-being. Since sexual diversity is a core component of the human experience and each person’s sexuality will change over the lifespan, we welcome all forms of consensual sexual expression, desire, and fantasy. Good Vibrations strives to be an agent for social change, through the lenses of sexuality, diversity and ethical business practices. Both within our organization, and throughout the communities we serve, we are committed to fostering respect, promoting supportive communication, providing access to educational resources and strongly advocating for women in leadership roles.

About VoiceAmerica/World Talk Radio, LLC:

World Talk Radio, LLC is the world leader in online media broadcasting and the largest producer and distributor of live internet based talk radio and TV, delivering more than 200 hosts broadcasting to eight niche community based channels and over 1,000 hours of programming weekly on its VoiceAmerica™ Network and WorldTalk Radio Network as well as live and on-demand video content on VoiceAmerica.TV. World Talk Radio, LLC is one of the pioneers in internet broadcasting, producing and syndicating online audio and video, offering an innovative, effective and comprehensive digital broadcast platform.

2 Responses to “Nov 1: Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders and Jackie Strano of Good Vibrations on Sex Out Loud”

Thank you for all that you do! You provide an invaluable service to the community with your education and resources. I can only aspire to be more like you!

I am a Sex Educator in the Boulder, CO area. I offer a Sex Toys 101 program to college students and community members in the Denver Metro area. I always mention your books and how much of a wonderful service you are to the sex-positive community.

I met you once, and you were very kind by signing your “Opening Up” book for me.

I listen often, and continue to be amazed at the guests you continue to bring to the table!

I’d be interested in hearing someone talk about the legal issues of having children in the BDSM and Polyamorous communities. I recently had a very bad outcome during my divorce. I was shunned for being sex-positive, for working for a local adult store, and for having sexually explicit blogs (which did not mention my name that was given at birth). The family investigator also asked me if I was a sex addict! She was completely sex negative, needless to say!

Also, because I make far less money, my son was allowed to move to another state, and now we live far apart. I’d be interested to know if there are any resources for people who are in the community to talk with someone about legal issues like this, and how to move forward? Of course I want to be with my son, but the economy is awful and I would need to find a new job. I would be looking in the Portland, OR area.

Thank you for reading my query, and thank you again for all that you do!